Friday, December 9, 2011

* Cuba: A senior Cuban Catholic Church official said that Pope Benedict XVI will visit the island in early 2012.

* Mexico: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was grilled by some members of the House Judiciary Committee over “Operation Fast and Furious”, a gun trafficking sting that led to weapons being obtained by Mexican drug gangs.

* Brazil: The government proposed a $2.2 billion initiative aimed at putting a stop to the country’s “crack epidemic.”

* Dominican Republic: Protesters demonstrated in Santo Domingo against government polices that allegedly discriminate against residents of Haitian descent.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Note: In honor of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, which was held on December 3rd, this week's daily video segment will focus on the disabled community throughout Latin America.

On December 6th tens of thousands of people marched in a series of rallies against Colombia’s FARC guerillas. The demonstrations took place in Colombia as well as several major international cities and sought to call for an end to violence perpetrated by one of the world’s oldest existing rebel groups.

One of the organizations that helped organize the anti-FARC march in Bogota was the Fraternity of Disabled Police Officers (Fraternidad de Policías Discapacitados in Spanish or FRAPON). Members of the FRAPON include policemen injured in combat who have marched in numerous occasions across Colombia calling for the liberation of kidnap victims. “We will continue rolling through the country until all the hostages are freed,” said FRAPON president Luis Alberto Ninco Sanchez.

The following video comes from a FRAPON march in 2009 during a stop in the Colombian town of Cajica. Several local politicos gave their recognition to the FRAPON’s efforts for peace and a prompt end to the country’s decades-old armed conflict.

Note: In honor of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, which was held on December 3rd, this week's daily video segment will focus on the disabled community throughout Latin America.

Telethons were recently held in several Latin American countries including Chile where over $40 million was raised for the medical treatment and rehabilitation of thousands of disabled children.

The 27–hour event was presented by "Sabado Gigante" host Don Francisco and included appearances by musicians such as Diego Torres and Juanes as well as President Sebastián Piñera. (Piñera’s speech was briefly interrupted by a group of student protesters calling for educational reforms and a greater role by the state in caring for the disabled).

It’s up for debate whether the “Teletón” serves a useful purpose or is degrading towards the disabled. Yet an appearance by the head of one Chile’s National Disabled Service called much-needed attention to a problem facing millions of disabled individuals throughout the Americas: the lack of employment opportunities.

According to María Ximena Rivas, over two-thirds of employable disabled Chileans (nearly 1.4 million people) are without work. Rivas urged the government to make changes to existing labor laws in order to prevent discrimination and mistreatment against disabled individuals.

The following video shows the benefits that come from giving disabled individuals the opportunity to work. This 2006 clip from a report on Chile’s TVN shows how a blind impresario hired 25 mentally disabled individuals to work at his small factory:

The theme of this year's International Day for Persons with Disabilities, was “Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development.” Across the world disabled individuals strive for inclusion within society including promoting mainstreaming and accessibility for all.

Last month a group of 55 disabled Bolivians and their caretakers marched along roads in order to call attention to discrimination and the lack of opportunities in the disabled community. Despite laws made to protect the rights of the disabled the protesters claimed that they are marginalized and treated like second-class citizens. Some marchers, like the one in the video below, blamed President Evo Morales for failing to follow through with his pledges to help disabled Bolivians.